Briarbrook Farm still thriving, even in tough times

That’s what Thompson, who has run Briarbrook Farm with his family decades before Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s or Target even existed, calls those mega-chains – “Box stores.”

These are chains, which bind and constrict. Now entering its 62nd year, the Mom and Pop operation that is Briarbrook – a fixture on South County Trail since Truman was in office – has succeeded in competing with one-stop mega-stores.

But the Thompson family – Mother Hilda, still assisting at 90, Jerry, Dean, Nanci and Alice – mind the daily operations. Jerry’s wife Sandra, Dean’s wife Charlene, daughters Dianne and Lisa, sons Stephen and Jim along with their wives Mia and Heidi; grandchildren Kelsey and Christopher Samek can all be found lending a hand on weekends and holidays.

For more on this story, check out the Dec. 1 edition of the East Greenwich Pendulum.